Wife Testifies About Suspect's Finances In Military-arms Trade Case

June 21, 2001|By Jon Burstein Staff Writer

The wife of a New Jersey man suspected of arranging military-weapons trades in South Florida testified Wednesday that her husband brokers business deals when he isn't teaching tennis or running a construction company.

But Rosemarie Mohsen had difficulty explaining Diaa Mohsen's dealings, offering only one example of his being a middleman in an international wheat sale.

Federal authorities claim Mohsen, 57, of Jersey City and Jersey City liquor store owner Mohammed R. Malik, 52, were middlemen in an attempted multimillion-dollar arms deal. They were arrested last week after allegedly inspecting a Stinger missile at a West Palm Beach warehouse. Malik and Mohsen had spent months talking with an undercover agent and government informant about buying high-tech military equipment, saying at one point they were acting as conduits for a former foreign military official, according to federal court documents.

Federal authorities have refused to comment on a case that one defense attorney has likened to a James Bond novel. The case also spilled over Wednesday into the New Jersey Republican gubernatorial race when one candidate questioned Malik's donation to an opponent.

At bond hearings Wednesday in U.S. District Court in West Palm Beach, Mohsen and Malik voluntarily postponed the proceedings to give their attorneys more time to prepare. Prosecutors are asking U.S. Magistrate Judge Ann Vitunac to hold them in jail without bail.

Rosemarie Mohsen offered testimony about their family income in an effort to get a court-appointed attorney for her husband.

She said that her husband teaches tennis at a local park, participates in local politics, has a Somali telecommunications license and co-owns a construction company. One of Diaa Mohsen's construction company partners is Kevin Ingram, a former Wall Street financier who was charged with money laundering in connection with the arms-dealing investigation.

However, according to court documents, Mohsen told an undercover agent last week that he had a falling-out with Ingram, 42, and hadn't talked to him for some time.

Rosemarie Mohsen testified that her husband didn't make any money last year and the family lived off her $29,000 income as a camera shop employee. She acknowledged owning a $25,000 car, living in a $1,300-a-month apartment and taking a recent trip to Egypt with her husband.

They paid for the trip with a credit card and it became part of a $50,000 debt the family is paying off, she said.

Vitunac appointed West Palm Beach attorney Val Rodriguez as Diaa Mohsen's attorney based on financial records that were presented.

Federal authorities first came into contact with Mohsen in December 1998 after a government informant claimed he was involved in arms dealing, according to court records.

During the 31-month investigation, Mohsen and Malik met at least a dozen times in South Florida, New York and New Jersey with the informant and an undercover agent posing as a rogue arms dealer, court records show. The two men discussed buying Stinger missiles, night-vision goggles, grenade launchers and a nuclear weapon component, according to court documents.

Court documents don't specify which country the suspects allegedly were representing.

The allegations against Malik, a former member of the Jersey City zoning board, became political fodder Wednesday after it was revealed that he had donated $1,000 to the New Jersey gubernatorial campaign of Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler.

After the revelation, the campaign manager of Schundler's only opponent in the June 26 Republican primary, Bob Franks, questioned the contribution in a press release titled "Schundler linked to arrested arms dealer."

"Imagine that, a candidate for governor of New Jersey taking contributions from people [alleged to have been] trying to sell arms to foreign military leaders," said Charlie Smith, Franks' campaign manager. "... This raises a very dark specter of where the money came from. Is Bret Schundler taking money from the profits of illegal arms sales?"

Schundler's campaign said he "couldn't pick Malik out of a two-man lineup," never asked for the contribution and has already sent the money back.

Jon Burstein can be reached at jburstein@sun-sentinel.com or 561-832-2895.